December and Advent calendars simply belong together. This year, we asked our colleagues around the globe to submit entries about typical customs, events, decorations, or dishes during the winter and Christmas seasons - and they blew us away with their creativity once again. Look forward to 24 personal contributions.
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Miniseries | Part 5 | Personal words from Christian Leibinger about the year 2022
There is a tranquil but elated magic surrounding Christmas. Everything appears calm outside, everyday life slows down, and one begins to relax - yet this year somehow feels completely different. 2022 keeps us in suspense with terrible events, crises, and incomprehensible suffering. Nonetheless, we have also experienced many positive signs, like international solidarity in Europe - but also in the hospitals, offices, and our families.
Thank you for sharing these moments together.
We wish you a relaxing holiday season, a Happy New Year, good health and many wonderful moments in the year ahead.
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Miniseries | Part 4 | The performance
The auditorium fills up; we set the lights to "concert mode," and the band is ready with their instruments. Will they succeed in their performance after only one rehearsal? Find out in today's episode of our end-of-year message serie.
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Miniseries | Part 3 | The rehearsal
With the busy calendars just before Christmas, it's getting tight, and the band can only meet for one rehearsal date. Will the big performance still be successful?
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Miniseries | Part 2 | The casting
Many colleagues submitted videos and impressed us - but one crucial instrument is missing from the band lineup. So does this mean the end of our Christmas band?
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Miniseries | Part 1 | We need a Christmas band
Today, we're not sharing a country-specific Christmas custom with you, but a KLS Martin-specific one - our personal end-of-year message, in which our management takes on different roles year after year at Christmastime. Despite, or perhaps because of, the external circumstances this year, we have decided to send out a positive message in 2022 as well. This time we take you on a musical journey in five parts and reveal one or the other talent of our colleagues but also of the management.
In part 1, you'll find out how the desire for a Christmas band came about.
Today we start sweetly into the Christmas week with our colleague Melanie's favorite cookie recipe. Fairy kisses are not only ideal to eat yourself, but also to give away to family and friends. ;)
You can find the recipe here:
Ingredients:
For the cookie dough:
For the meringue:
Preparation:
Step 1:
Mix flour with powdered sugar and salt in a bowl. Add egg yolk and butter to the remaining ingredients. Quickly knead everything with your hands into a smooth dough. Form dough into a ball, place in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Step 2:
Preheat oven to 160 °C top/bottom heat (convection oven: 140 °C). Line baking sheets with baking paper. Roll out dough thinner than 0.5 cm and cut out small round discs or use any other cookie shape. It is important that the shape is slightly larger than the Toffifee. Then place on the baking sheet and place one Toffifee upside down on top of each.
Step 3:
For the meringue, start beating the three egg whites in a bowl until stiff. Sift in the salt and sugar and beat for 4-5 minutes until firm. Pour into a piping bag fitted with a thin hole nozzle and pipe the meringue onto the toffifee in a spiral pattern, working from the bottom to the top. If the sides of the Toffifee are not yet completely covered, carefully sweep the meringue down with a knife until it touches the pastry. Bake fairy kisses in preheated oven for about 18 minutes. Let cool completely. Enjoy!
Today is the 4th Advent - a perfect day for getting creative with a few things you have at home anyway and making a beautiful window decoration - just like our colleague Gabi. Here you can find the instructions for our paper star. If you click on the picture, a video tutorial will start.
You need:
Step 1:
Glue the bread bags to each other in order with an inverted T, open side up.
Step 2:
Next, cut small prongs in the top of the open side.
Step 3:
Now the front and back sides are glued together with an inverted T. The thread is placed in between. And the star is ready. :)
Today our colleague Tabatha from the US shares some holiday season custom with us.
If you’re new to the parenting game, you’ve probably wondered, “What the heck is Elf on the Shelf?”
Elf on the Shelf is a Christmas tradition in which a special scout is sent to your home from the North Pole to encourage kids to behave. The idea is that Santa’s little helper watches the children by day, and each night, it returns to the North Pole to report on whether they were naughty or nice.
The Christmas tradition has just two rules. First, children are not allowed to touch the elf or it will lose its magic. If you touch an elf by mistake, the official Elf on the Shelf website advises children to write a letter to Santa to apologize and sprinkle a little cinnamon beside the elf before bed.
“Cinnamon is like vitamins for scout elves, and it helps them get back to the North Pole,” the website reads. “Once they arrive, the North Pole doctors will check them out.”
The second rule of Elf on the Shelf is that the elf will not speak or move while the kids are awake. The elf only moves at night when it makes its trip back to the North Pole. Once it returns home, it assumes a new position in the house.
In the past, we’ve seen the elf get up to all sorts of crazy antics, from playing poker to taking selfies to sunbathing on the kitchen counter.
What are some things that are never missing at Christmas? A Christmas tree, Advent wreath, Christmas market, and of course... Christmas poems! In addition to singing classic Christmas carols, Christmas poems are also part of the tradition. Children recite them to shorten the wait for the Christ Child and Santa's visit.
It doesn't matter if the poem tells a story from yesterday, today, or tomorrow. Whether creative, thoughtful, humorous, exaggerated, funny, in rhyme, or simply poignant. Each poem is as unique as the Christmas season itself.
The Christmas bakery has moved into the KLS Martin WORLD! The scent is even smelled at the reception. Everyone wonders, "What delicious thing is being baked?"
Of course, the most important pastry at Christmas: the gingerbread! Our hardworking Christmas elves Selina, Pia, Amelie, Hannah, and Tuana from the Trainee Social Media crew are vigorously weighing ingredients, mixing dough, cutting out cookies, and decorating them. Here you can find the recipe.
Recipe:
For the gingerbread dough you will need:
Ingredients for the icing:
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 160 °C convection or 180 °C top/bottom heat.
Step 2:
For the dough, slowly heat the sugar beet syrup with the sugar, butter, and gingerbread spice in a saucepan. Let the mixture simmer gently until the sugar has completely dissolved. Keep stirring the mixture to make sure nothing burns.
Step 3:
Add the flour, baking powder, and egg to the liquid sugar beet butter mixture and knead. It should form an even dough.
Step 4:
The dough should be processed while lukewarm. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 0.5 cm thick and cut out the gingerbread cookies. Using baking paper, line a baking tray with the dough and bake for 8-10 minutes (depending on the size of the gingerbread).
Step 5:
Beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until stiff for the frosting. While whisking, gradually add powdered sugar to the mixture until you have a white, creamy consistency. Once small peaks appear when you pull out the beater, the frosting is ready.
Step 6:
Pour the frosting into a piping bag and decorate the cooled gingerbread.
In South India, it's called Payasam, while in North India, it's called Kheer. But, no matter what name you use, according to our colleague Ranjani be sure to include this delicacy at every Indian celebration.
Kheer is a sweet pudding that is very popular among all age groups. The most classic version of this dessert is the rich Vermicelli Kheer, where you slow-cook rice grains, whole milk, and sugar to perfection. To give us a chance to try it, Ranjani shared a special Kheer recipe from her Mom with us that she is preparing for all her upcoming festive occasions. Below you can find the recipe.
Ingredients:
Here is how to do it:
1. Roast the vermicelli strands in a pan at medium-low heat and stir while roasting until the strands turn golden brown.
2. Pour 2 litres of milk into the pan and mix it well with the vermicelli strands. Let this mixture come to a boil.
3. Add the sugar, saffron, pistachios, almonds, cashews and cardamom and mix well.
4. Cook the vermicelli kheer for three to four more minutes until the milk thickens.
5. You can serve the kheer hot, warm or chilled. We recommend garnishing it with chopped nuts.
Today we start our Tuesday with a sweet treat brought to us by our colleague Connie based in the Netherlands – the old-fashioned Dutch doughnuts known as Oliebollen.
Here is what is behind it: Dutch settlers took their tradition over to the New World, which evolved into the anyplace-anytime-anywhere snack doughnut we have today. In the Netherlands, they remain a seasonal treat, made and enjoyed specifically to ring in the New Year. Here is how you make them.
Ingredients:
Break up compressed yeast and stir into warm milk. Let stand for a few minutes to dissolve.
Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in yeast mixture and egg until smooth. Stir in currants, raisins, and apple. Cover the bowl and set it in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 375 °F (190 °C).
Use two metal spoons to shape scoops of dough into 12 balls. Drop them carefully into the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Remove doughnuts with a slotted spoon and drain them on paper towels.
Dust doughnuts with confectioners' sugar. Transfer to a serving platter and dust with more confectioners' sugar.
Small wooden huts, good-humored visitors, the air full of sweet and savory aromas, glistening lights, crafts, and Christmas carols in the background - these are the distinguishing features of any German Christmas market. You can spend a whole day here on the weekend, feasting your eyes on all the holiday delights or searching for the perfect handmade gifts for your loved ones.
If you get cold, grab a cup of warm fruti punch or hot chocolate to warm you up like our colleague Janine. :)
The smell of freshly baked cookies, the scent of fir branches, atmospheric Christmas music - for our colleague Petra, all of these are part of the pre-Christmas season. The larger the variety of cookies, or as we say in Swabia, "Bredle," the better. ;)
Petra has a life hack for those who like to bake an assortment of cookies with just a few ingredients - she makes five kinds from one dough. You can find out how here.
Ingredients:
Other ingredients:
Preparation:
Cut 600 g butter into cubes. Mix 900 g flour, 250 g sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the butter cubes and work into crumbles with your fingers. Add the eggs and quickly knead into a smooth dough. Divide the basic dough into 5 parts, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 200 °C or 180 °C convection oven. Prepare the dough, depending on the type of cookies, roll out thinly, cut out cookies and bake for 8 - 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool and finish according to the recipe.
For Spitzbuben: cut out cookies and bake. Spread with raspberry jam, put 2 cookies together and dust with powdered sugar.
For vanilla stars: knead in 50 g ground almonds and 1 tbsp. vanilla sugar. Cut out stars, bake and turn in a little vanilla sugar while still warm.
For cinnamon trees: knead in 2 tsp. cinnamon and 1 tbsp. vanilla sugar. Mix 2 tsp. cinnamon and 2 tbsp. cane sugar. Brush cookies with beaten egg yolk, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake.
For Nutella hearts: cut out hearts and bake. Spread with Nutella and put 2 hearts together. Melt couverture, decorate hearts with it and let dry.
For walnut thaler: knead in 50 g finely ground walnuts. Cut out cookies, bake and let cool. Fill with the apricot jam and assemble 2 cookies each. Coat one side with chocolate and place a walnut half on top. Let chill.
Tip:
If there is chocolate coating left over, Petra just mixes in cornflakes and slivered almonds. Place small heaps on a baking tray and chill. You have an additional type of cookie.
What could be nicer than decorating your house at Christmas with homemade ornaments? Our colleague Kerstin shows you how to make an angel for your tree from two sheets of paper, a wooden bead, some string, angel hair, and a felt pen. What is your favorite do-it-yourself decoration at Christmas?
What you need:
1. Fold two sheets in zick-zack pattern.
2. Bend arms, insert cord and glue together.
3. Glue arms to body and hold together with clothes pegs.
4. Draw a face on a wooden bead and string onto the thread.
5. Use scissors to insert the angel hair into the bead and glue it.
Have fun making your paper angel!
Today, our colleague Viviana from Italy sends us greetings with a delicious and classical Christmas pie recipe with a long tradition called "Panettone ." The word derives from "panetto" meaning a small loaf of cake. When you add "one" as a suffix to "panetto" the meaning changes to "large cake ." Experts say that its beginnings go back to the Roman Empire. The Romans had already experimented with sweetening yeast cake with honey. Here you can find the recipe for Panettone and create it yourself.
Recipe:
Preparation:
Step 1:
Pour the flour, crumbled yeast, sugar, soft butter in chunks, eggs, egg yolk, grated lemon peel, vanillin, and 80 ml water into the bowl of the mixer and knead with the dough hook at low speed, then while continuing to knead, add the remaining water and salt.
Step 2:
Now insert the dough hook and continue to knead the dough until you mix the ingredients and the dough is quite elastic; remember to detach the dough from the hook.
Step 3:
Remove the dough from the bowl and quickly beat it with your hands on a work surface before kneading it again by hand to give the dough the strength it needs to rise, giving it a few folds.
Step 4:
Add the sultanas and candied fruit, continuing to knead until you have incorporated both ingredients.
Step 5:
Shape the dough into a ball, place it to rise in a lightly buttered bowl, and cover it with cling film. Place the quick cake to rise in the oven with the light switched off.
Step 6:
After 2 hours, transfer the dough, kneading it quickly and creating a ball, into a 700/750 g Panettone mold.
Step 7:
Let the dough rise until it is about 2 fingers from the edge.
Step 8
Now make an X-shaped incision on its surface with a sharp knife and place some softened butter in pieces near the incision.
Step 9:
Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 200 °C and for a further 15 minutes at 190 °C, then place a bowl full of water on the lower base of the oven to increase the humidity level and obtain a crispy surface.
Step 10:
Bake for a further 30 minutes at 180 °C, covering the surface with aluminum foil if it is too brown.
Step 11:
Take the Panettone out of the oven and pierce the base with 4 skewers arranged in an X shape, then turn the Panettone upside down and leave it suspended in the air, placing the skewers on supports of equal height (books, pots, chairs, etc.) so that the upside-down Panettone does not touch any surface.
Step 12:
Let it cool completely before serving. Let your imagination go wild as you decorate.
Well, who has gotten an Advent calendar this year like our colleague Judica? The 24 doors hide small gifts or sweets, which shortens the long wait until Christmas Eve. The origins of the Advent calendar go back to the 19th century. Families gradually hung 24 pictures on the wall. A simpler version was 24 chalk strokes painted on the wall, where the children were allowed to wipe away one stroke each day. Luckily today, we have many more and sweeter varieties. Meanwhile, this Christmas tradition is widespread: In addition to the classic Advent calendars with chocolate, there are many different variants. For example, the doors hide cosmetics, compliments, spices, or funny pictures of animals. So what does your Advent calendar contain?
There is a smell of cinnamon and sugar in the air. What a wonderful fragrance!
Roasted almonds are a must-have during the pre-Christmas season and ideal to give away as a small gift to family and friends. Here you can learn how to make roasted almonds - just like at a German Christmas market.
For approx. 300 g roasted almonds:
Step 1:
Weigh the sugar, water, vanilla sugar, and spices and put them in the pan or pot. The pan should have a high rim.
Step 2:
Cook the sugar water until you completely dissolve the sugar in the water. Add the almonds. Mix the almonds with the sugar mixture so that they are evenly covered. Keep stirring so that nothing burns!
Step 3:
As the sugar caramelizes, the sugar layer comes off. This process can take up to 8 minutes. Caution: Don't let the caramel get too dark, or it will taste bitter.
Step 4:
Prepare a piece of baking paper and spread the almonds on it wide. Allow cooling completely. To prevent the almonds from sticking, brush the baking paper with oil.
Step 5:
After cooling, wrap them prettily or snack on them.
It's early in the morning. The sun is peeking through your blinds. When you open the window, your gaze wanders outside towards the sky: a new day welcomes you with a brilliant blue. Fresh snow lies on the ground, glistening from the sun. A perfect day for cross-country skiing! The Christmas season is a pinnacle time in Germany for cross-country skiing enthusiasts like our colleague Lisa. So, what is your favorite activity in the snow? Play the video to follow her on her trip.
On December 5, a special pastry is conjured up in Switzerland: the Grittibänz. Our colleague Ursula shared with us what's behind it and how to make it as beautiful as in the pictures.
The name Grittibänz first appeared in Aargau in 1857. “Grittle, grittle, grättle” meant the spread position of the legs. “Benz” or “Bänz” was the short form of Benedikt and this name was as common as Hans and Heiri and was generalized for “Maa” = man. The Grittibänz was therefore an (old) man with spread legs and symbolized the “Schmutzli” (in English, helper to St Nicholas), who was originally a pagan figure with a stern demeanor. He later became subservient to bishop St. Nicholas.
Therefore, the Grittibänz is baked on December 5 and is an integral part of St. Nicholas Day, for breakfast, with the pumpkin soup for lunch or with the cheese platter in the evening.
If the first picture already makes your mouth water, you can find the detailed recipe here.
Recipe
Step 1:
Mix flour, sugar, salt and make a well in the center. Add butter in small pieces to the well, dissolve the yeast with 50 ml of milk and pour it into the well with the remaining milk. Combine everything into a dough and knead for at least 10 min until soft and elastic. Let dough rise to double under a damp cloth at 40 °C.
Step 2:
Divide dough into quarters and shape each piece of dough into an oval. Put little dough on the side, for decorating.
Step 3:
Head: Cut out triangle on both sides of scissors. Cut piece of dough for arms and legs.
Step 4:
Decorations: Press raisins and hazelnuts deep into dough and use remaining dough to form decorations, such as scarf, hat, belt, etc. Glue decorations with water. For hair, cut prongs into head with scissors.
Step 5:
Heat oven to 200 °C (top bottom heat). Place Grittibänze on baking paper and brush with egg. Bake in the lower half of the oven for 25-30 min. Grittibänze are ready when they sound hollow when tapped on the underside.
Wrapping gifts beautifully is a common Christmas custom. And what could be better than knowing that the gift will bring great joy to someone else? This year, our colleagues in the Instruments & Containers division supported the "Christmas Parcel Convoy" initiative, which packed shoeboxes full of toys and nice things for needy children in remote and rural areas in Eastern Europe.
Today we're talking about a winter classic in Germany – we love it so much that we even have a poem about it – "den Zipfel, den Zapfel, den Kipfel, den Kapfel, den gelbroten Apfel "or in English, the baked apple. Who's mouth doesn't water at the thought of a classic sweet cinnamon-scented baked apple? This year, our colleague Julian and his baking support dog Zola gave us the baked apple deluxe - in the form of a baked apple cake. We are excited to share this recipe with you:
Step 1: Dough
Mix all ingredients and knead into a smooth dough (important: always have a dog watching the dough and picking up any crumbs). Then put the dough into a greased springform pan, flatten it, and form it into a rim on the side.
Step 2: Filling
First, peel the apples and then cut them into eighths. In the same step, you can soak the raisins in rum, depending on your preference. Spread the apples and raisins on the dough.
Now bring 2 cups of cream to a boil. Mix the 3rd cup with the custard powder, sugar, and vanilla sugar and then bring the mixture to a boil. Pour the liquid over the apples immediately.
The cake can now go into the oven for about 75 minutes at 180 °C top-bottom heat. If the cake gets too brown, cover it with aluminum foil.
Enjoy!
Behind today's door is a festive decoration for your outdoor area - because what would Christmas be without a few sparkling and festive lights? Our colleague Gabi uses the following utensils for her self-made wooden star:
Roll up your sleeves, and off you go. One by one, tie the branches together with the jute string at the top of the branch.
You should now have 5-star tops.
Next, tie the branches together at the five branch forks created in the star's center.
Finally, wrap the string of lights around the wooden star - and you have a shining star!
Have fun with your new decoration.
We start this year's advent calendar with a big bang! Our colleague Eddie from Taiwan shared some beautiful fireworks with us. Here is the short story behind the fireworks:
Taiwan's landmark Taipei 101, was considered the tallest building in the world for several years. Since 2005, it has been the site of the New Year's Eve countdown fireworks and is definitely a New Year's Eve hotspot. CNN has even chosen Taipei 101 as one of the ten best places in the world to ring in the New Year.
You're welcome to come over and join us!
Don't worry, the next one will open soon. Until then, you can shorten your waiting time by reading through our news or browse our social media channels.